Where to Find Money on the Street and at Home

You won't get rich finding money on the ground, but it can be a nice surprise. Found money is money you didn't have to work for! Here's some good places to look and some tips to help you.

Where to Find Money

1. Phone booths. Even though most people use phone cards, have mobiles or reverse charge the calls, you can still find money on the ground near as booth or by checking where the change comes out. Push the return button, some money might pop out.

2. Vending machines. Check the change slot, under the machine, even on top of the machine. You can check the top really casually by putting your hand up there after you make your selection and then "wipe" it across the top to bring your hand back down to get your purchase. Or just check them when no one is looking if you are embarrassed. Again, when you are checking push the change button, or cancel button and some coins might come out.

3. Drive-thrus. When paying for their burger, if someone drops their change very rarely will they get out and pick it up to pay. There is too much pressure from the cars behind to keep moving and no one wants to be the one to hold up the line. Most drive-thru places have cottoned on to this. My sister told me that when she worked drive-thru, if someone dropped their change, after they had gone, she had to go out and pick it up, the company made her. So obviously if a company makes it protocol, it happens A lot!

4. DIY car washes. When people are cleaning out their cars, coins can fall out. Sometimes people just throw them out with their rubbish without thinking. Check it next time you are going through one.

5. Bus stops. Again, people drop their change and with the pressure to keep the line moving and not hold up the bus, they will just get on and not worry about it.

6. Gutters. Change falls out of pockets, bags, and cars as people get in and out of their car, or when people are walking along, and it often falls into the gutter. I have found lots of coins laying in gutters.

7. Check-outs. People drop money and do not want to pick it up. If you are too embarrassed to check, you could casually drop something and have a look when you bend down to pick it up. Sure, if you go to the same shopping centre all the time and do this every time you go through, the operators will think you're a klutz, but hey, free money!

8. Anywhere money is exchanged. If money is changing hands, at one point some of it will drop. Taxi ranks, bus stops and check-outs are all perfect examples of this.

9. Parks and playgrounds. Parents can drop money when the ice-cream van comes and their kid wants an ice-cream, or when they get things out of the nappy bag coins might fall out. Kids playing on the equipment might lose the change in their pockets. Next time you take your kids to the park, have a look around.

10. On the street. When you are crossing the road, glance around. People drop money all the time and if they are in a hurry or a car is coming, they will not stop to pick it up.

11. Train stations. Check the automatic ticket machines for change; look on the ground where people buy tickets and on the platform. If you are running late to catch a train you are not going to stop to pick up the 50c you dropped and someone else will be lucky enough to get it.

12. Car parks. There are so many people getting in and out of cars in a car park that the chances of find lost coins are higher than many other areas. Keep an eye out next time you are in one and you might be surprised.

13. Self-pay checkouts. People drop money behind the bags, forget to check the change slot, drop coins on the ground. Check everywhere when you use them because you just never know.

14. Any self-pay machine. These are becoming more and more common and the great thing is not everyone collects their change. Also, if they are in a busy area, if people drop their coins under or around the machine, they are likely to just grab more from their pocket or wallet rather than hold up the link looking for the dropped money.

15. Lounges and seats in waiting areas. Coins can get stuck in the cracks after falling out of pockets. I always find money in my lounge at home, so why not look everywhere else?

16. Laundromats. If you use them, check the machines before you do a load. People grab their clothes, but may not realise they had money in their pockets that went through the wash.

17. Taxi back seat or bus seats. ALWAYS check them. Also if you are sitting up the back of the bus, check behind the seat. One of my friend's brothers did this every time he got on the bus, one time he found a $180 pair of sunglasses in perfect condition, other times money, toys, cigarette packets (full or close too, none of us smoke though). It is amazing what you can find.

18. Public toilets. I don't recommend crawling around on the floor looking for money, but glance on the ground and you might be surprised.

19. On the ground after any sporting event or concert. People buy food there and drop their money. There is such a mass number of people that your chances of finding something are above average.

20. Anywhere you can walk. If you can walk there, someone else has, so they might have dropped something. Always look around on the ground when you are walking.

21. Park benches. Benches in public areas where people sit can often have a few coins underneath. People sit and the coins fall out o their pockets or they get something out of their bag and change falls out.

22. Cars. If you happen to test drive a car, check the seats and anywhere you can. Same goes for if you hire a car. Yes, they detail them, but you might get lucky.

23. At the beach. I don't mean pick through peoples things, but look in the sand. Get a metal detector if you want. Considering how little people wear to the beach, the size of the bags we take and how much stuff we have it is very easy to lose money and not know it. Plus, it can sink in the sand so not even be visible.

Finding Money in and Around Your House

There is usually lots of money to be found in and around your house. Check these spots:

1. The washing machine and dryer, especially the lint catcher. Hardly anyone checks their pockets before putting things in the wash.

2. Every item of clothing in your closet. Check the pockets, check shoes, everywhere. You may have put some change in your pocket and forgotten to take it out when you hung up your jacket.

3. Handbags, back packs, overnight bags, every bag and purse you have. There might be a little rip in the lining which has meant coins could slip through into the middle of the bag.

4. Under lounges and under or in between the cushions. It is so easy for money to slip out of your pocket when you sit on the lounge.

5. Under any appliance. You or someone else may have dropped some coins and they rolled under the fridge. You might have placed some notes next to the TV and they slid under it. I once put $50 on my desk then could not find it for the life of me. A few weeks later I picked up my stereo to move it and there it was!

6. Under the bed. How often do things roll under the bed or work their way under there and you plan on getting them later, but they just sit there? Later is now, check it.

7. Your car. If you have one, check all the seats, under and in the cracks. Check the boot, under the spare tyre, every nook and cranny. The little rubbish bins and pockets in your car, the glove department, everywhere! Every time I have bought a car, I have found money in it.

A few final tips

If you can walk somewhere, do it. Not only is it good for your health but you have a higher chance of finding money. If you happen to see 20 cents on the road when you are driving you are not going to stop the car to pick it up are you? You are also not likely to see anything. If you walk everywhere, you see more and are more likely to be able to pick up money.

If you are one of those people who go for a run or walk daily can you vary your route to go through a car park or something to enable you to glance on the ground for money?

Always check the machines. Don’t be too embarrassed about it.

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